New Mexico City Airport Project Cancelled

The construction of a new airport for Mexico City has halted after a public vote to decide its fate. About a third of the $13.3 billion project is already complete but, during his election campaign, the now Mexican President-elect, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, had said his government would scrap the new airport in favour of a less-ambitious and cheaper project.

Mr López Obrador launched a four-day public consultation period prior to the vote which he said would determine the will of the people. The resulting statistics showed that only 1.2% of registered people voted, with some 70% of them choosing to reject the new airport in favour of Mr López Obrador’s plan to keep the existing airport (IATA: MEX) and add a passenger terminal and two runways to the Santa Lucía military base north of the city. The estimated cost of cancelling the project is about $5 billion but Mr López Obrador said his government will guarantee contracts and investments as well as addressing any claims from companies and investors. He reiterated the possibility that current contractors could shift work from the new airport site to that of his alternative plan.